AHA MEDIA was pleased to meet Jose Sotelo, a quietly eloquent but very dynamically dressed Canucks Fan as he was playing a mock game between Vancouver Canucks and Nashville Predators on the Play Station 3 in One Stop Shop Cards and Games in Tinseltown Mall right near GM Place.

He enjoys working at the games, giving him a great sense of community while he helps sell 50/50 tickets to help fundraise for Canuck Place Children’s Hospice program.

By participating in the Canucks for Kids Fund 50/50 program, Canuck fans helped the Fund give over $730,000 to Canuck Place Children’s Hospice that received $1.7 million in the 2007-08 season. With the generosity of our loyal fans and dedicated team of volunteers, the Canucks for Kids Fund 50/50 program has become the most successful in the NHL!

Canucks for Kids Fund 50/50 Rules and Information:

·Tickets are 3 for $5 or 7 for $10.

·Must be 19 years or older to purchase a 50/50 ticket.

·Ticket buyers are given one of the tickets and the other matching ticket remains with the seller to place in the draw bin.

·Tickets are sold prior to game time. Most ticket sales are finished at the end of the first intermission although tickets are still available in the suites and at the 50/50 table at section 101 until the 2nd intermission.

·Ticket sales are at all Vancouver Canucks hockey games at GM Place.

·Volunteers sell tickets at all entrances to GM Place, on the concourse, in the Brew House Grill and in the suites on the 200, 400 and 500 levels. Some volunteers also sell in the bowl during the 1st period

AHA MEDIA enjoys meeting community people who try and make a difference in our neighborhood! Cheers for Jose!🙂

Significant street sweeps have been occurring in the DTES from increased
and aggressive ticketing for things like jaywalking to complete
gentrification of Pigeon Park. Leading upto the 2010 Olympics, such
measures are meant to ‘cleanse’ the neighbourhood and to intimidate DTES
residents. We are standing together to show that we will not be scared-
stand for the DTES!

With the Olympics just a little over a year away, the Vancouver Police Department unveils today (January 21) its draft business plan for 2009, which would see additional cops, more street spot checks, and more bylaw-violation tickets issued in the Downtown Eastside.

The plan will be presented at a meeting of the Vancouver police board chaired by Mayor Gregor Robertson.

It states that “in 2009 the VPD will introduce a new strategy aimed at reducing street disorder by increasing the number of members in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) on the Beat Enforcement Teams (BET), and increasing the time these members spend curbing and deterring disorder on the street in this area”.

The plan goes on: “This strategy will be accomplished in part by a directive for increased discretion with regards to arresting and charging individuals for simple drug possession in this area.

“By placing the priority on seizing drugs rather than officially prosecuting the offenders for lower-level drug possession offences, VPD members will avoid the necessity of spending the majority of their shift filling out lengthy paperwork which effectively removes their presence on the street for several hours at a time.

“With more officers being dedicated to the area, and more of their shift spent enforcing the law on the street, the disorder and offending associated with this area will decrease, increasing the quality of life and safety for all residents and visitors in the area.”

One of the plan’s strategies involves the increased use of city bylaws “for disorder offences”.

There will also be an “increased involvement in service of summons for chronic disorder related bylaw offenders; and increased usage of the Safe Streets and Trespass Acts”.

The plan’s targets include a “minimum of 4 street checks per BET member per block”.

The VPD also wants to eradicate “street vending in the BET catchment area by the end of 2009”.

In a phone interview, VPD spokesperson Constable Tim Fanning said that potential criticisms of the plan from Downtown Eastside activists are “nothing new”.

“One of the goals of the department for years has been to work on street disorder because people down there want to feel safe,” Fanning told the Straight.

“There’s a lot of people that live in the Downtown Eastside that aren’t addicted to crack that aren’t on the streets all the time. Those are the people that appreciate a police presence,” he said.

“We get more support from the community than criticisms because…a lot of people that we talk to that live down there, residents as well as businesses, people do not feel safe when there’s a large amount of street disorder going on,” Fanning added.
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AHA MEDIA follows the DTES WOMEN CENTRE march from the Centre at Columbia and Cordova up to Main and Hastings where the Police Station is located.

AHA MEDIA is honored to be mentioned by Gillian Shaw for the Vancouver Sun online! Thank you so much Gillian! :) We appreciate being showcased as we aim to be a premier citizen journalist site where we can help to inform and entertain our audience!

Please click on the link below to get the full story: “Whistler weekend showcases B.C. social media” by Gillian Shaw

April, Peter and I are up at the beautiful (no, really it is) Fairmont Chateau Whistler, preparing to livestream the presentations.

WordCamp Whistler is a full day of workshops about WordPress, a leading blog platform. We’re here courtesy of the organizers, Duane and Rebecca, who’ve kindly waived the registration fee. And we got some excellent swag: WordCamp Whistler toques FTW!

Wordcamp Whistler – Live!

January 24th, 2009 by laniwurm

WordPress is a free online publishing platform, blog tool, and content managing system used by millions of people around the world. Wordcamp Whistler is a conference that brings together WordPress users and developers to discuss the platform, network, and share stories. Fearless City Mobile will be live-streaming Wordcamp Whistler 2009, this Saturday, January 24th.

If you can’t make it to Whistler, you can watch the conference live by clicking on this link.

January is an exciting month for everyone at 3rdWhale! Not only are we excited about the inauguration of Obama, but we’re also launching our iPhone application in Vancouver!

Obama’s Administration is focusing a lot more attention on the ‘green’ economy, through investment in alternative energies, stronger carbon fuel standards and reduced dependence on foreign oil. We expect that any widespread shift in US policy will be reflected with a similar shift in Canada. We’re at an incredibly important crossroads in modern human history, and though Obama doesn’t have all the answers, we believe he’s asking the right questions.

Our iPhone application is a location based service (LBS) that helps you make environmentally sustainable purchasing decisions while on the go by providing a directory of all the green businesses and services near you. As Obama brings hope to the policy and government pieces of a sustainable future, consumer choices play a role in creating change in business; the 3rdWhale Mobile application makes it easier for people to choose ‘green’.

So we’re going to celebrate both these events on January 20th! Obama is inaugurated a 9:00am PST, so we’re going to record the live event, and watch it after work. We invite you (Vancouver) to join us for Obama’s inauguration speech, prizes (including an iPhone), and a few good drinks at Ceili’s Irish Pub!

We’re also going to have computers set up at the event so you will be able to register with One Million Act of Green. By joining the 3rdWhale group – we can count all our act, and see the difference that we’re making in the world!

If you’re not familiar with 3rdWhale yet, you soon will be (at least, that’s the hope…). We’re a young technology start-up from here in Vancouver, with the goal of enabling sustainable living through the use of mobile and web technologies. Our first release is the 3rdWhale iPhone app, which will be in the Apple Store shortly.

Below : KK and Ward ( Head DJ) of Ceili’s Irish Pub share a chat. Ward was a most exceptional host who make us all feel very welcome! He is outstanding and went above and beyond to make us all happy! Our group will sure come back to Ceili’s because of Ward!

Below is a sign for an event that Ceili’s Irish Pub has on Thursday Night : Dueling Pianos directed by Peter Robinson! Please check out their website.